Bloodline Flash
by Edaar the Mage
Summary: In the Chunnin Exams, during a moment of clarity and at his lowest, Naruto awakens within him a unknown power.  The power that made his father the most feared shinobi of a generation.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but if I did I would fix the gaping plot holes and stop toying with the Uchiha like Kishimoto does!

Author's Note: This is an idea I've had for a while and decided to give it a test drive. I am almost done with my update for Uzumaki Sunrise but I was listening to music and got inspired and wrote this out. I wanted to give my readers a sneak peak at what is in store in the future with me. I don't intend to start putting it into full production until Uzumaki Sunrise is a bit closer to being complete. I want some time to get the entire story outlined before I start it but as I said I also wanted to give my readers a sneak peak at what is coming down the pipeline! Parings, none so far, so if you have any preferences feel free to say so however I know there will be no Naru/Sakura.

**Bloodline Flash**

**Chapter 1: Awakening**

Life is strange, sometimes when we least expect it things change. They change so completely, so irreversibly, that we can never go back even if we want too. Sometimes that change is something we seek. Sometimes it is something that we choose. But many times it is simply something we have thrust upon us.

This is what happened in a single day, a single moment, for every living person of two great villages.

Uzumaki Naruto, blonde haired and cerulean eyed, had just been sent flying backward by multiple juken strikes by his opponent. He picked himself up off the ground and knew he was hurt. He was simply too slow to get inside the older boys defense.

He had been so proud, making it into the finals of the Chunnin exams. He was so filled with purpose when Hyuga Neji had been declared his opponent, he would avenge Hinata's loss in the preliminaries! He was so excited at the thought of the training he'd receive from his sensei only for those thoughts to be dashed when his sensei had run off on him with his teammate. He had really hoped the man would help him, been so happy to finally get some individual training and advance himself. It had been hard for him not to cry at the disappointment he felt that day but he had persevered.

Naruto coughed as he felt a trickle of blood run down his chin and spit out a mouthful of his own life fluids to the ground. It was times like this Naruto wished more than anything he had a family, a true friend, someone who cared about him and understood him. A person who accepted him unconditionally for who he was and would supported him through every difficult moment without question, someone who he could call family. But it was also times like this he was reminded of what he lacked.

He could hear them, their voices were all around him, 'Kill the Demon Hyuga!' they screamed, 'kick his ass Hyuga!' they would cheer, 'Not laughing now brat!' they would taunt him. He knew Iruka was looking down on him with a concerned expression, he was just too kind for his own good. The Ramen chef Teuchi and his daughter Ayami were likely in the stands too and the old man Hokage was watching him. But deep down, as kind as they were, none of them were a replacement for a family and people who had loved him his entire life. And it was times like this when he wanted that support more than anything.

Naruto was no stranger to self doubt or life's hard lessons but in that moment that moment he raised himself back up again. His sensei was nowhere to be seen, his teammate was not here, and his other teammate didn't really care about him. Naruto knew she didn't care but kept hoping she would accept him, he just couldn't stop hoping to gain a little acceptance. He also knew deep down what he wanted from her was attention and validation, but hidden under every smile was the knowledge she would never give him that. And at times like this, when he was at his lowest those thoughts rose to the surface to taunt him.

"Are you ready to continue Uzumaki?" the dark haired boy asked him with a look of superiority on his face, "Fate has already determined this match Uzumaki, you cannot defeat me. Submit and surrender, there is no reason for you to continue to greater injury."

Naruto looked into the pale eyes of his opponent and nodded with a grim look of determination. He raised himself into a shaky taijustsu stance and breathed a moment. The boy in front of him, Neji, stood silently watching his opponent.

Neji may have assumed his victory but he was no fool, he would not underestimate his opponent, even if it was the knucklehead. He had seen what that had cost Kiba a mere month before and while he was prideful he was not a fool.

Suddenly Naruto broke into a burst of speed as Neji stood still and entered his Juken stance.

_Faster, move faster damn it!_ Naruto thought to himself as he struck a cross with his left flowing into a round house kick.

Neji blocked the punch and spun to easily avoid the kick before bringing his hand up and slapping Naruto across the face with a smirk on his features.

_Damn it! Why can't I move faster! I can't keep up with him!_ Naruto thought to himself as he continued to press his assault. Left, right, sweeping cross with his leg, followed by an uppercut, but nothing worked. Neji simply avoided it all.

All of the frustration and pain welled up inside Naruto. He could hear the taunts and insults even more clearly now that Neji had backed up near the wall of the arena. He felt the remorse, the sense of longing, his hopes and dreams and the crushing reality grinding them to dust. His entire body straining to push itself to be faster than before to catch the Hyuga prodigy but failing to match the older boys speed.

Then it happened. Something that would change the world. Neji decided he was tired of waiting, tired of letting Uzumaki Naruto attack and decided it was time to end this match decisively.

But as Neji moved to strike Naruto the blonde's perception changed and suddenly Neji seemed to slow down. It was as if he was moving in slow motion. Naruto's cerulean eyes seemed to almost glow and he stepped to the side and struck Neji in his unprotected left flank.

Then reality seemed to snap back and Neji felt the strike and the speed that the blonde moved. He was shocked and jumped away from the panting blonde.

_What the hell? Where did that burst of speed come from?_ Neji thought to himself, certain he had a bruised rib if not broken, _No matter, it only shows I need to stop playing and finish this._

Naruto felt different, his entire body felt odd. It was as if every nerve was tightened, every muscle renewed and coursing with energy. He felt lighter than ever before but his mind, it felt open. It was such an odd experience. He was able to perceive so much more around him, and he felt something different, some kind of strange pull or trigger in his mind. He reached for it with his chakra but before he could experiment he immediately saw Neji closing the distance between them.

But again Neji seemed to be moving in slow motion. Naruto stepped to the side and brought his knee into Neji's gut. The pure speed and strength of the blow caught Neji by surprise, he had never seen anyone move so fast before. It was like fighting the legendary Sharingan but Naruto's eyes remained a piercing blue.

Neji couldn't understand what was happening, fate had decreed he be victorious! What was going on? How was he suddenly losing his match when his opponent had all but been beaten mere moments before?

Naruto pressed his advantage this time. He blocked the slow counter and proceeded to slam his fist into Neji's face. The boy had tried to stop the attack but had simply been too slow to do anything!

Neji quickly broke away and jumped to gain some distance but now Naruto wanted to try something new out. With every passing second he could feel a building pressure in his mind, the only thing it would be compared to would be a chambered round in a gun with a hammer being cocked back. And Naruto, being the unpredictable young man he was, couldn't help but pull that trigger.

In a single moment everything changed. All anyone saw was a bright flash of yellow light and Neji was nothing more than an indention in the side of the wall of the arena and silence rained throughout the stadium.

But if we were to look through the eyes of Uzumaki Naruto we would see so much more. Naruto pictured himself right next to Naruto as he pulled the trigger. Suddenly he felt his entire body squeezed as if through a tight space and then, as if by some magic, he was there, right next to Neji, right where he had envisioned himself. He punched Neji with a right cross. He pulled the trigger again and was suddenly in front of Neji where he delivered a vicious knee to his chin before delivering a vicious kick to the stomach sending Neji into the wall where Naruto was already waiting to delivered several more punches and kicks, each proceeded with a pull of the trigger in his mind.

Naruto had no clue what he was doing. It just clicked, it felt so natural to him. It was as if everything he knew suddenly made sense. He could sense everything around him, he knew where everyone was, their individual chakra signatures were like beacons to him. It was like a radar system in his mind, he didn't just feel them, he could almost see them! They were like giant glowing flames with slight distinctions. He knew with a single thought he could appear at any of them the way he had Neji.

And as quickly as it happened it ended. Naruto was standing in front of Neji, panting heavily. He was so tired, his entire body felt like it was burning from effort. His muscles were on fire from being squeezed over and over and the amount of force that had been running through them. As he tried to catch his breath his body was hit with the realization: it was exhausted and he nearly collapsed. He couldn't even begin to understand what had happened or what it meant. Naruto merely tried to catch his breath and remain standing.

Neji was much worse for wear though. His body was literally indented into the solid rock wall of the arena. He obviously had several broken bones and was mercifully unconscious if his hanging head was any indication. There were bruises already forming on the visible portions of his skin and his breathing was dangerously shallow. Naruto stared at what he had done, trying to process that it had been him who had put the older boy in that condition.

The crowd had been shocked into silence.

The Hokage's eyes widened at what had happened and realization began to dawn on him at the same time as the man sitting next to him began to grin behind his face mask, a horrible, nasty grin of pure, un-relenting joy.

The first to recover enough to speak was the protector who merely whispered in a shocked voice, "Winner, Uzumaki Naruto."

And with that, in a single instant, a single moment, everything in the world changed.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor any characters in this fan fiction.

**Chapter 2: Family**

Sarutobi Hiruzen, Third Hokage, known throughout the lands as the Professor, sat in shocked silence by what he had just witnessed. The old Hokage's mind was still processing the scene that had unfolded before him. He had seen many things in his nearly 60 years of life but none of them surpassed what had just happened.

At first he had thought Naruto was simply holding back, after all, Jiraiya had been training the boy for the past few weeks. Then the boy had seemed to literally speed up, even almost beyond the old kage's vision, but for just a few moments, and then returned to his normal speed. Then it happened a second time and it became obvious that Naruto was as surprised by the change in his speed as the Hyuga boy. Then in a single moment Sarutobi realized his mistake, it hadn't been simply an advancement in Naruto's speed or abilities. Naruto's skills had increased that dramatically. Naruto was truly shocked by what was happening to him. And it was in that moment that everything changed and the arena had been filled with the bright light of a yellow flash.

Even as the words of the proctor registered in his brain he could hear others beginning to overcome their shock, "That… that was the Hiraishin!" "The Fourth Hokage's technique!" "How does he know that!?" "The demon's taunting us!" "He kind of looks like the Fourth"…

A thousand thoughts entered into his mind as the Third Hokage knew he needed to reign in the situation immediately before it got out of hand, "Excuse me Kazekage-san but I have an internal situation to see too. Cat and Crow with me."

The old Hokage of Konoha vanished in a swirl of wind and leaves to appear next to the blonde boy, "Genma-kun move to the next fight. I don't care if sponsors came to view the last Uchiha, he is considered disqualified and you are to move through the list. As Naruto's guardian I am exercising law 571 article 12 and taking Naruto for an immediate screening by a medic. I will have him back before his next fight. Cat I want another five teams of Chunin in the stadium immediately to handle any fights which may break out from this situation. Crow, retrieve Jiraiya immediately, tell him the Fourth's legacy has been revealed."

"Hai!" the two ANBU responded before vanishing in shunshin's.

The Hokage placed a hand and offered Naruto a gentle smile as the tired boy looked up at him, too exhausted even to speak. With that they vanished from the stadium to appear in the underground medical facility.

"As Uchiha Sasuke has not arrived on time he is disqualified and Gaara no Subaku advances. Kankurou no Subaku and Aburame Shino report to the floor," Genma announced despite the fact that the crowd was obviously no longer paying attention.

**Medical Center Below the Stadium**

The old Hokage arrived to find his student already waiting. The white haired sannin was leaning against the wall and gave his sensei a nod of greeting, "I figured you'd want to see me sensei, I was watching the entire incident."

It was obvious to anyone that Jiraiya was upset. His posture might have appeared relaxed but there was stress around his eyes and a haunted look to his features as if he was trying to pull himself from the past.

Naruto looked up at the white haired pervert and felt a surge of gratitude for coming to watch his fight. He gave the old ninja a cheesy smile of gratitude, "I kicked his ass ero-sennin!"

With a roll of his eyes the old sannin smiled slightly but was unable to lose the stiffness in his posture as ruffled Naruto's hair, "That you did gaki, good job!"

Knowing they had a limited amount of time the Hokage decided he needed to step in before the two started a blow-by-blow replay of the fight, "Jiraiya, I need you to check the seal immediately for any problems," Sarutobi told him.

"Had to put on a show huh gaki? Alrighty, lift up your shirt so I can check and make sure everything is alright with your seal," Jiraiya told him with forced cheerfulness.

"I also need you to tell him the truth Jiraiya, after this incident rumors will spread everywhere. He is now your primary responsibility and will require your protection," the sannin's old sensei told him even as he saw Jiraiya freeze at the words.

Hiruzen knew it wasn't fair to ask this of his student, he also knew it was his fault for what was about to happen but it had been the best choice at the time. The two exchanged a quick glance, one whose meaning was utterly clear. Jiraiya blamed him still for how Naruto had grown up and Sarutobi clearly said if Jiraiya didn't tell him, he would.

"I suppose it is long overdue," Jiraiya muttered as he felt a chill enter his spine as Naruto looked between the two but Jiraiya moved before he could voice his confusion.

Jiraiya kneeled to Naruto's height and placed a heavy hand on the boys shoulder. He could see the blonde was exhausted, even beyond anything that the sannin had seen during their training month, it was probably the reason why the boy had been so quiet so far.

"Naruto, I knew your mother and father. I was your father's sensei. I was, well, very close to them," he told the blonde haired youth as tears began to water in his eyes, "Your father was like a son to me and when we found out you were going to be born they asked me to be your godfather and guardian should something happen to them. I... you… you were named after a character in my first book because your dad liked it so much," tears were openly flowing down the sannin's face as he remembered the day Minato had informed him he intended to name his son after his sensei's book.

Naruto stared at the old man in front of him. Every lonely night he had cried himself to sleep, every time he had sat alone on the swing, every time he had watched from afar as other families walked away from him with their smiles came crashing down into his heart. The shock of emotions nearly rent Naruto into pieces to discover he had a godfather, a guardian, a man who should have taken care of him. And despite the warring emotions within him only one question came to his mind and in his confusion he barely whispered a single word, "Why?"

That single word was enough to terrify Jiraiya. It was said with so much raw emotion, the loneliness, the pain, everything the boy had suffered for thirteen years was in that single word and he was asking for an answer from the man who could have made all of it go away. The man whose responsibility it had been to protect him and watch over him and drive the darkness away. And the piercing blue eyes stared at him waiting for an answer, they dove into Jiraiya's slowly, steadily and begged him to answer.

As much as Jiraiya wanted to look away he didn't, he didn't shut eyes to his godson's pain or to the raw emotions welling inside himself, he let them flow and faced them as he had not done in years, "Naruto … I wanted to take you with me. Sensei and I, we talked about it for hours after your father died. We knew that if you came with me you'd be forced to grow up on the road and my work would take us into some of the worst places on the planet. Even more than that I knew if I was seen with you it would be obvious whose son you were. Your father earned many enemies in his time and all would try to kill you before your first year was out, despite any protection I might be able to offer you."

Taking a deep breath Jiraiya continued, "I did everything I could to help you, I sent you those gifts on your birthday, gama-chan and your sleeping cap and that orange jumpsuit even. I paid for your apartment and tuition to the ninja academy. I asked sensei every time I wrote him what you were like and how you were doing. I squashed any rumors and left false trails for anyone who might be trying to find you. I came back just to watch you in the Chunin exams and planned to meet you at the hotsprings that day. I wanted to train you, to teach you everything I know and I still do."

Jiraiya continued, his pace quickening as he came to his conclusion, "I wanted to be here for you Naruto and I know I can't make up for the past and I know it is cold comfort to know that I was looking out for you from behind the scenes when you needed me by your side all of these years. But I want to teach you everything I know, and I want to protect you. I know you may never accept me as your godfather and you might never be able to forgive me but I just hope you'll give me the chance to redeem myself for not behind here all these years and accept my training as your father did."

Jiraiya bowed his head as he finished, unable to take the look coming from Naruto's eyes as he absorbed the words that Jiraiya had spoken.

"Naruto," Sarutobi said, "I think you should know it took a lot of convincing to get Jiraiya to leave you here. He had adoption paperwork already filled out for you even before the night was over. He was going to take you and I take full responsibility for him leaving you. I felt it was better that you grow up here where you would be safer in anonymity and the possibility of friendship. I never expected the village to circumvent me or ignore the Fourth's will the way they did. I also think you should know Jiraiya wrote letters weekly asking about you and had me send him pictures of your pranks, he always wanted to know about you," the old hokage told the young man in front of him.

"You… you wanted pictures of my pranks?" Naruto asked in a quiet voice.

"I still have them, I keep them on me when I travel and look at them at night. You might look like your dad but you act just like your mom," Jiraiya said with a hint of a smile as his eyes gained a faded look to them as he remembered the red head that had stolen his pupils heart.

"Who… who were they?" Naruto asked. The one question he had wanted an answer to for so long, the one thing he had always been denied as part of his identity, who were his parents?

Before the Hokage could stop them Jiraiya answered, "Your father was my greatest pupil and the Fourth Hokage Naruto, Minato Namikaze and your mother was the last of the Uzumaki Clan, cousins of the Senju, Kushina Uzumaki."

"Naruto, you must understand that we kept this information secret to keep you safe, if Iwa or any other number of enemies your parents made learned you were alive they would have stopped at nothing to see you dead in vengeance for your parents," the old Kage told him.

Naruto wasn't sure what to think. His mom and dad had loved him, wanted him. He was the son of the Fourth. And even now he was being offered what he longed for ever since he could remember. A family. Yet that same family could have been there for him his entire life. But he had worked in every other way he could to help him. It was all so confusing for Naruto and he wasn't sure how to take it all in. He tried again and again to work things through in his head but one thing always returned, _Family_.

Naruto could see the pain that Jiraiya carried inside him. It was clear he hadn't wanted to leave Naruto as a baby and it had taken convincing and almost an order from the hokage to force him to do so. Now he was asking for a second chance. As much as Naruto wanted to be angry at him, as much as he wanted to yell and scream, and as much as he wanted to rant that the old pervert should have been there from the beginning the thought of finally having a family brought him up short.

"W-would you stay with me?" he asked hesitantly.

"Naruto, that's all I ever wanted to do. And it will always be my greatest regret that I wasn't there for you as you grew up," Jiraiya told him as he tried to convey his regret and pain through the words.

Tears formed in Naruto's eyes, "I'm not sure how I'll feel later, it is all so confusing, I'm angry at both of you and yet happy to know I was loved and wanted but… but I'd like that… if you'd stay that is… godfather."

With those few words the found themselves in a tight embrace as the Hokage smiled softly. He knew they did not have long but that this was a necessity and he motioned for the medic who had appeared at the door to wait in silence as the two shinobi before him finally gained something they had each yearned for, a family.

It would be a long road ahead for them, Jiraiya carried many emotional scars and Naruto would have to work through much of his own anger and resentment but it was a start. A small step but a good one none-the-less.

With a polite cough the Hokage brought them back to reality, "Naruto-kun would you please lift up your shirt so Jiraiya can check your seal? And Izumi-san here will perform a scan of your body."

With a nod Naurto positioned himself on the bed and laid back as he lifted his shirt. Jiraiya channeled some Chakra into the seal to bring out and began to examine it.

"I don't see anything wrong with it Sarutobi-sensei. Everything looks perfectly fine, I'd guess that what happened likely had no effect at all on the seal itself. But I'll keep an eye on it to be sure prolonged use doesn't cause any problems," Jiraiya told his old sensei.

Izumi meanwhile was running several medical scans, the most important was a bloodline scan. While they would need to take blood samples later for more definite proof the scan would give at least an initial indication of whether a bloodline limit had appeared.

"I don't see anything wrong Hokage-sama. From all appearances Naruto-san is in good health, although his body is in extreme stages of exhaustion. The bloodline scan does indicate that he has awakened a bloodline limit but there is no match currently. We will have to take a sample later for a more definite test," she informed them.

Before the conversation could continue Crow appeared within the room, "Hokage-sama, Uzumaki-san's fight with Gaara no Subaku will begin shortly, he must return or be disqualified."

With a nod Jiraiya placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "I'll take him back up. Kick his ass Naruto, I know you can do it."

Jiraiya looked down into the face of his godson. And simply the knowledge that someone cared for him, that he had a family watching him and cheering for him sent renewed vigor into the blonde boy, "I'll make your proud… godfather."

With a smile the two vanished in a swirl of wind and leaves to appear in the middle of the stadium. And then all hell broke loose.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters in this fan fiction. This is done simply for enjoyment of myself and my readers.

**Chapter 3 Gaara of the Sand**

Hiruzen had tried to stop him. He had wanted to stop them. But the look on his students face when he said he would take Naruto back to the arena was too much for the old man. It was a look of pride and happiness he had not seen on Jiraiya in almost thirteen years. And it stalled him just long enough to let Jiraiya and Naruto escape.

_I suppose it would happen sooner or later since Jiraiya's going to take over his care and training. Might as well let them have their moment_, the old Kage thought to himself before smirking at the thought of the reaction they were going to get and disappearing in wind and leaves to retake his seat to watch the show.

The moment the blonde haired Uzumaki Naruto appeared with the white haired sannin the entire stadium erupted. Despite calming down slightly as Genma pushed the matches along, the thought of their greatest hero's abilities living on was on the forefront of every spectators mind. Potential clients were imagining the possibilities, shinobi were trying to figure out how he had learned the technique, and civilians weren't sure what to think. That this child, the carrier of the Kyubi no Yoko, the demon brat, the pariah of Konoha, had used the hirashin raised both questions and thoughts of grief and anger among the people of Konoha.

The stadium appeared split into factions. Some were calling for his death for taunting them, for stealing their hero's technique. Another group was cheering for him, more than once the name 'Namikaze' was shouted. Lastly there seemed to be thousands cheering for him to repeat his performance with Neji against Gaara.

Naruto wasn't sure how to take the thunder from the stadium as the screams and cheers mixed together to form an unintelligible roar but when he felt Jiraiya's hand on his shoulder give him a firm, comforting squeeze relief immediately spread through him.

_I'm not alone_, Naruto thought to himself and took a deep breath before and looked up at his godfather and sensei.

"Kick his ass, Naruto-kun," Jiraiya told him with a big smile.

"You got it godfather!" Naruto told him with a grin in response.

The exchange was not lost on many in the crowd who remembered another Chunin exam some two decades prior. In their minds they saw the overlay before him as the white haired sannin had once before stood with another blonde haired boy and many minds began to click then and there. Why Naruto had been chosen, how Kushina and Minato had always been seen together, Kushina's pregnancy, the date of his birth, his looks and personality, it all came crashing down and thousands began to realize they had made one blindingly, glaring error in their lives. And as the citizens and shinobi of Konoha connected the dots a similar thought passed through their minds.

_The Fourth's last request wasn't to treat a random boy as a hero and keep him safe but to treat his own _**son**_ as a hero and raise him and keep him safe. My god, what have we done?!_

Jiraiya vanished in a swirl of wind and leaves to take his place by the Hokage's side to watch his godson face the most dangerous opponent in the tournament.

Naruto stared at the red haired boy in front of him and gave a nod.

"Mother wants your blood. Will you prove my existence?" the monotone voice of Gaara asked.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the question, "Mother? Who are you talking about?"

Gaara merely stared at him an emotionless face. He knew no fear but after seeing what the blonde had done to his opponent Gaara was more than willing to view the boy as worthy of his time.

Genma looked between the boys and with a nod raised his hand, "Begin!"

"Mother wants your blood! You will die this day Uzumaki! Show me! Show me that power! PROVE MY EXISTENCE!" Gaara shouted as streams of sand burst from around him to attack Naruto. The sand broke into four separate strands from the gourd on his back. They weaved and bobbed, the streams mixing and unmixing as they flowed toward their blonde haired target.

Naruto jumped back, avoiding the sand at all costs. With the price of failing to avoid the sand well in his mind Naruto worked continuously to avoid it. He remembered what happened to Lee and would not be caught so easily.

It was such a strange sensation to Naruto, once again he felt into his mind for the trigger that now was so obvious to his consciousness. But while he wrapped his charka around the trigger the 'radar' seemed to automatically activate with little to no obvious cost to his reserves. The sand that Gaara was using was infused with his own charka. Because of this Naruto's new ability allowed him to see the charka moving toward him from no matter the direction. He could easily pinpoint which way they were going from the way the chakra moved within the sand, directing it. It was like watching a puppet's strings being pulled and knowing which way the puppet would move when each string was pulled.

As each grain of sand moved in response to the chakra and Naruto's radar saw it granting him advance warning before the full bulk of the sand moved together. Each grain was acting like a tell for the boy, and no one knew it as he dodged effortlessly through the sand sent before him.

Gaara's eyes narrowed at the blonde's movements, trying to figure out how he was avoiding his attacks. He didn't have the Sharingan, so he shouldn't be capable of predicting the movements of his sand, yet it was almost like he could see where the sand was going to be before it got there! As the fight wore on Gaara continued to remain motionless and his frustration rose and he decided to switch tactics.

All of a sudden the sand pulled back and massed together to create a massive wave heading toward the blonde. Naruto's new ability would be useless against a wide spread attack. Narrowing his eyes Naruto jumped back and stuck his feet to the wall of the stadium as he jumped over the sand wall.

Naruto was breathing hard now, he wasn't sure how much longer he could continue to dodge Gaara's attacks like this. Despite everything his use of the new abilities were draining on him and he was still extremely tired from the first fight. He recognized his movements becoming more and more sluggish and it wouldn't be long before he made a mistake. Knowing his kage bushin would prove useless in this fight Naruto decided to try the same trick that had defeated Neji so easily.

He wasn't sure if he was just getting used to it but the squeezed and compressed feeling on his body did not feel quite so bad this time around, but even still it hurt like hell and left his body feeling like it had just gotten pressed flat by a steamroller. But it was all worth it as he appeared behind his enemy in a flash of yellow light and proceeded to pound Gaara's backside with his fists as quickly as he could.

Gaara immediately knew he was in trouble the moment he saw the flash of light and the blonde before him vanished followed by the vicious attacks coming to his back and right sides. When he turned however the blonde had already disappeared and was now to his left. His sand armor was peeling off him as his body took a pummeling he had never felt before.

Gaara tried to bring his sand back to him to protect himself, he tried to form his ultimate defense but the speed of the attacks, his inability to defend himself, it drove his concentration from him and he was unable to command his sand. He was disoriented from the feeling of his entire body being pounded and all of a sudden he felt his stomach take a massive shot and he was hurtled to the wall, just as Neji was before him.

Gaara's head lolled around him, his eyes wide as he let out an ear piercing scream. He was in pain. For the first time in his life he felt pain. His right arm was broken, he had cracked ribs and bruised muscles from the pure force of the number of strikes made on him. Never before had the red head been so badly hurt and it was drove him beyond the last vestiges of sanity.

His eyes focused on the source of his pain. Naruto was on one knee, sweat was dripping from his forehead as he struggled to regain his breath. He was tired, too damned tired. But as he saw the other boy scream a sense of utter foreboding entered his soul and he knew he had to finish things now or they would get much, much worse.

Naruto struggled to his feet, he could feel the exhaustion in his body as he forced himself forward trying to find the last scraps of his chakra for one final 'flash attack' as he had come to think of the new ability. Pushing the exhaustion from his mind, willing his tired body to move, he launched himself in a final move that brought his fist into the sand boy's stomach with enough force to cause cracks to appear in the wall and rendering Gaara of the Sand unconscious.

Sweat was dripping off Naruto as he fell to a knee and struggled to regain his breath. Before he could even stand he heard a swirl of wind and leaves were felt behind him. Kakashi and Sasuke had finally arrived.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any characters in this fanfiction

**Chapter 4**

Jiraiya smiled as he watched his godson fight. The kid was obviously seeing something no one else could by his movements and ability to uncannily avoid the sand moving around him but at the same time it was also obvious he was tired. That thought caused Jiraiya to frown slightly.

_Why is he so tired? Is it simply because of whatever strange bloodline he has activating or is it simply the use of the bloodline. Minato, what were you hiding with that Hirashin technique,_ Jiraiya thought to himself.

Seated next to him the 'Kazekage' was also admiring the blonde boy in the arena before them but for a different reason, _Magnificent! Even the Sharingan eyes pale in comparison to such a beautiful bloodline ability! With such power under my control entire armies would die in the blink of an eye, no one could stand before me!_

Jiraiya frowned as he saw the sand beginning to sluggishly pull toward the boy in an attempt to cover him in his pain and realized the boy was no longer in control. Whatever was controlling the sand was trying to take over and as Naruto rendered the child unconscious he let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Damn, the brat just won two matches in record time! Impressive don't you think sensei?" Jiraiya asked his mentor.

"Very, the bloodline he has awakened appears to be just as powerful as his father's," the old Kage responded.

Listening intently the 'kazekage' perked up, "And just who is the boy's father Hokage-same?"

"Let us not play games Kazekage-sama, I doubt there is anyone in the stadium who will not put the facts together, he is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, the son of Minato Namikaze and heir to the Uzumaki clan," stated Hiruzen while he quietly puffed on his pipe.

_That could have been trouble, nice work brat_,_ I am surprised sensei would give up his parentage so easily but I suppose there is no point in hiding it any longer,_ he thought to himself with a small smile before his eyes narrowed at the arrival of his godson's sensei and teammate.

With a quick nod to his smiling sensei Jiraiya formed a vanished in a seal less shunshin.

Within the arena Kakashi was trying to take everything in before looking at Genma, "Uh, we're not too late right?"

Genma sighed, "Yes, Sasuke-san is disqualified from participation for not arriving on time. Apparently your tardiness is contagious Kakashi-san."

Sasuke however was ignoring both of them as he looked at the opponent Naruto had just defeated, his opponent. Naruto was on his knee breathing hard as he slowly rose to his feet and began to finally steady his breathing.

Naruto was tired beyond belief, he was amazed he could even stand up at this point. He knew he needed a rest before he could fight anyone else. It was such an odd feeling he noted as he looked at his hands. There was hardly a mark on him from the fight but his entire body felt like it had been crushed by the sand the boy used. Shaking his head he turned back to the sand shinobi.

Naruto looked at Gaara and sighed before placing a hand on the boy's shoulder and pulling him down from the indention he had created in the wall and gently laying him on the ground.

"Uh… Naruto, so…" Kakashi began as he began to walk over to his student only to have Jiraiya appear between them and gave him a cold look before turning hot the blonde and smiling.

"Nice work there kid, you really took him down. I don't think your old man would have done better when he was your age," Jiraiya said as he rubbed Naruto head with one hand and laughed.

Naruto smiled tiredly and nodded to his godfather, "Something was weird at the end there, his chakra was changed, it was like mine."

Jiraiya nodded, "I'll take a look while he's in the infirmary," he murmured quietly.

Kakashi coughed finally garnering the attention and gave a weak eye smile, "Hey Naruto, how'd it go?"

Naruto looked at the sensei who had abandoned him for his teammate, he saw said teammate standing next to his sensei glaring at him, and he just wasn't sure what to say. Part of him wanted to yell 'SEE KAKASHI-SENSEI! I BEAT GAARA! NOT SASUKE BUT ME!' and yet it didn't seem to matter anymore. It just wasn't as important now that he had his godfather in his life. For some reason knowing that someone wanted to be with him, was standing next to him and was proud of him for no other reason than because it was Naruto who had accomplished the task it made the praise of anyone else seem less meaningful.

The medics arrived and began to take Gaara away for treatment before Naruto finally recognized his sensei and teammate were even there.

"Hello Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said with a tired wave as he walked past them toward the stairs to return to the balcony for the contestants. Jiraiya smiled as he placed a hand on his godsons shoulder and walked next to him, placing himself between his godson and Kakashi and Sasuke.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto or any characters in this fanfiction.

**Chapter 5**

"So when do I fight?" Sasuke asked as he glared at the retreating back of his blonde teammate.

"You don't," Genma informed him.

Sasuke turned his glared to the shinobi before him, "I am here, I am the last Uchiha, and I will fight!"

Kakashi looked at Sasuke and sighed, "Sasuke-kun, we were late and you were disqualified, I'm sorry but that's just how it is."

Kakashi could tell immediately that Sasuke was about to explode and wisely placed a hand over his mouth before giving Genma an eye-smile and disappearing with his charge in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi and Sasuke reappeared in the stadium sending Kakashi a death glare who finally realized he was still covering his student's mouth, "Whoops!" he said before removing his glove covered hand.

"How dare you! I was supposed to fight Gaara! YOU told me I would fight Gaara! YOU…"

"…Should have seen the fight with Gaara-san" Maito Gai suddenly said as he appeared next to Kakashi.

That statement caused both Kakashi and Sasuke's heads to snap straight to the spandex wearing jonin.

Taking a deep breath and accepting that he was about to open a can of youth-filled worms Kakashi asked the question on both of their minds, "Uh, Gai-san, what do you mean?"

"It was a most youthful fight! The flames of Youth of both Gaara-san and Naruto-san shined as if a thousand suns were lit in the middle of the arena! Gaara-san's use of his sand was most impressive but it was useless against Naruto's teleportation ability! It was as if the Yondaime had been reborn among us! He's disappear and reappear right where he needed to be, he acted as if he knew where everything were going before it got there, it was such an amazing vision of YOUTH!"

Kakashi stared at the spandex wearing jonin in shock for a moment before looking past Gai to Asuma Sarutobi who grinned at the silver haired man before decided to take pity on him, "I won't lie Kakashi-san, it was pretty incredible to watch. He used something like the hiraishin, he just vanished in a flash of yellow light and the next thing we see is his opponent flying into the wall. No one could follow him, he was teleporting Kakashi, just like the Yondaime!"

Kakashi stared at his fellow jonin trying to process the information he had just received. His student. Naruto Uzumaki. The deadlast of the academy and village pariah had somehow resurrected the technique that had made his sensei famous and allowed him to almost single handedly defeat an entire enemy shinobi village.

_And I told him he needed to work on his chakra control. Naruto… what have you been hiding from us?_ Kakashi wondered to himself.

As the adults spoke the young Uchiha felt his pride take blow after blow, _Why does Naruto get this power!? I should have been given this ability to kill _**him**!

Sasuke felt a pain in his neck and moved his hand to the cursed mark that resided there but despite the pain he also felt the allure of his power. It was as if it was reminding him of the time in the forest. Of the power it offered, the strength it could grant him if he chose to use it.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he watched them carry Gaara out of the arena in a stretcher and his ears began to register the words being spoken around him.

"That was incredible! I bet he'll make chunin with power like that!"

"Do you think he's _his_ son?"

"What an amazing ability, I feel safer knowing the leaf has such power in it."

"Were we wrong about him all this time?"

It felt like dozens of conversations were taking place about his blonde haired teammate. Conversations which should have been about him! He should have fought Gaara and if he had the entire village would be speak about his power, his clan, his sharingan!

**With Naruto**

Naruto smiled as Jiraiya told him how proud he was as they walked up the stairs. He could almost feel Sasuke's glare on his back coupled with Kakashi's dumbfounded gaze. Naruto was still trying to sort his feeling out about everything. He had wanted his teachers respect for so long, he wanted the man to pay attention to him the way he did Sasuke, but now that he had that attention it just didn't feel important.

Naruto still wanted the attention, he still wanted Kakashi to brag about him as his student but then he'd feel his godfather's hand on his shoulder and the smile he had on his face. Everything Naruto could have ever asked for was right there next to him. Whenever Naruto looked into Jiraiya's face there was just something special there, a love for him he had only imagined before. Jiraiya was proud of him whether he won or lost he would still be proud but more than that, Jiraiya loved him.

Sure, he was still angry with Jiraiya for not being there for him when he was younger and he still needed to sort his feelings out completely but for the moment Naruto just basked in the glow of his godfather's presence.

"Well kid, I need to get back to the old man, you rest up while you can. After you win this thing we'll go out to the celebrate with all the ramen you can eat!" Jiraiya told him with a big smile on his face.

Naruto grinned up at him and grabbed the older man in a crushing his, "You got it godfather," he whispered into Jiraiya's coat.

Jiraiya smiled and rubbed Naruto on the head tenderly before separating and returning to his old sensei.

As Jiraiya returned to the kage box Orochimaru found himself at a cross-roads. With Gaara eliminated he doubted his forces would be able to actually destroy the village. And if Minato's son ever became truly involved in the fight he could wipe out their entire attack for within moments. But it was obvious the gaki couldn't control his power yet and it was tiring him greatly. He needed to strike now, before the child got his power under control. He had no choice.

As the stadium buzzed with anticipation of the upcoming final matches they all noticed hundreds of feathers suddenly drifting down from the sky as a massive explosion rocked the kage box.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or make any profit from this work of fandom

**Chapter 6**

"Sensei!" Jiraiya yelled as he watched the Kazekage jump from the box toward a nearby roof top with the Toad Sage hot on his heels.

It all happened far too quickly and despite his skills Jiraiya had been caught slightly off-guard. He had never thought Suna would attempt to kidnap the Hokage in the midst of the Konoha! Rather than being focused on protecting his teach his mind had been working much too on the subject of his godson.

Jiraiya cursed himself for letting his guard slip even for a moment as he landed seconds behind the Kazekage on the roof of the nearby administrative building. Just seconds were the difference between him standing with his sensei and watching a purple barrier raise between him and the now revealed Orochimaru.

Now Jiraiya was stuck watching helplessly as his teacher was forced to fight alone against the man who had once been his best friend and teammate. Thousands of thoughts flew through his mind as he studied the purple barrier. Nothing physical could pass through it and the only way to breach it would be an immensely powerful attack. Anyone attempting to break through with physical force would find themselves burned to ashes. But perhaps it could be bypassed instead.

It was then Jiraiya had a thought, it was devious and would place in danger the person he cared for most in the world, but it could work.

"Stay here, I'm getting help!" he yelled to the nearby ANBU before taking off back into the stadium.

The ANBU simply stared at the spot Jiraya the toad sage had been a moment before. The only thought being _Who the hell could one of the Legendary Three need to get help from!?_

**With Naruto**

When the feathers began to fall Naruto immediately looked around to see the stadium becoming a battlefield. It was so strange though, almost surreal. His mindscape kept up with every movement of the shinobi around him, he could feel their chakra all around him stretching out growing fainter as the distance grew. But the strangest thing was watching the chakra that ran through everyone's bodies.

The shinobi appeared as small miniature models in a three dimensional landscape in his mind overlaid with the world as his eyes saw it. He could tell which shinobi were about to use jutsu and in what direction and how powerful the attacks were just by glancing at it. It would be beautiful if it wasn't so deadly.

Naruto groaned under the stress of his mind as it attempted to process the massive influx of data. He saw every battle, every move, as if they were small models in his mind. Placing a hand on his head he tried to reconcile what his eyes saw in front of them and what his mind showed him.

"Naruto!" Jiraiya called as he landed beside his godson. He could tell Naruto was not entirely there and frowned in concern. As he placed a hand on his shoulder to shake him out of whatever stupor his godson was in before noticing his eyes seemed to glow slightly before dimming.

Naruto shook his head and felt slightly dizzy from the experience. His headache began to fade quickly now that he was no longer attempting to process everything but what was in front of him. Looking up at the concerned face of Jiraiya, "Godfather, what's happened?!"

"We're being attacked and I need your help. Think you're up to it?," he told him without explanation.

Naruto nodded before answering, "Yeah! I just had a bit of a headache from everything."

Jiraiya nodded slowly remember when his father was first attempting the Hirashin technique and said something very similar. Putting it to the back of his mind he placed a hand on his godson and the two vanished in a swirl of leaves before appearing before the barrier.

In the short time they had left Orochimaru had already summoned the First and Second Hokage's with the dreaded Edo Tensei and was engaging an obviously hard pressed Hiruzen. Despite his age the Third Hokage showed why he was still revered by holding back his predecessor's, it was an impressive battle but one that was obviously a defensive action and quickly becoming a war of attrition and not in the Third's favor.

If it was just Orochimaru Jiraiya was confident that even despite his age the Third would have been able to win but against the summoned and indestructible forms of the First and Second there was almost no hope of victory for his teacher. It only served to cement his decision to seek his godson's help.

"Old Man!" Naruto yelled as he rushed toward the barrier only to be grabbed from behind and yanked back to safety by Jiraiya.

"What the hell! We have to help him!" Naruto turned an angry glare at his godfather.

"And we will but that barrier would turn you to a pile of ash if you touched it," he told him as Naruto's eyes widened realizing how close he had come to causing his own death. "Listen, I remember your father once told me he had the ability to take things with him when he teleported. Can you use your bloodline to get inside and get sensei and bring you both outside the barrier safely?"

Naruto stopped for a moment when he realized how important a task this was. He was supposed to rescue the Hokage and bring him to safety! Seeing the grave look on his godfather's face caused Naruto to pause a moment to seriously consider how important this mission was. He was being charged with the rescue of the Hokage. He knew inside he had no choice but to agree.

Naruto took a deep breath and felt in his mind for the trigger and immediately his mind was filled with a 3D model the surrounding area colored in greys and blues as his bloodline activated. Opening his eyes he saw the barrier seemed to have no effect on the field but he also felt his own Chakra reserves were terribly low, despite the Kyubi's work to replenish them.

"I believe I can get past the barrier but I don't know if I have the chakra to get us back out," he told Jiraiya honestly.

Nodding his godfather pressed a pill in his hand, "That's a soldier pill, it will replenish your chakra temporarily, take it and get the Hokage out of there and to us. I'll be waiting to escort both of you back to a safe location."

Naruto nodded as he popped the pill into his mouth and swallowed. Almost immediately he felt his chakra reserves begin to fill and the previous exhaustion lift from his body.

With his chakra restored the blonde turned his attentions to the task at hand and focused on the third who was currently engaged in a taijutsu battle with the second. Not knowing how he knew but he aware that he would only get one chance at this and it had to be timed perfectly. He needed an opening to get the third out of the barrier without the First, Second, or Orochimaru interfering. Easier said than done.

**Orochimaru**

The snake was grinned in anticipation as he watched his former teacher fight for his life against his precious mentors. It was thrilling to know that in mere minutes he would finally obtain his dream of ending the life of his sensei and destroying the village that had spurned his genius! He barely noticed that the buffoon of an ex-teammate had returned although part of his mind did note the appearance of the Kyubi brat.

Orochimaru shrugged it off. His barrier should be more than enough to hold back both of them despite the appearance of the new bloodline. Confident in his victory he focused his attention once more on the battle in front of him and savoring every moment of the fall of the Third Hokage at his hands.

**Hiruzen**

For a man pushing past 60 he could easily feel every old wound, ache, and pain he had ever experienced. Despite being in impressive shape for his age and reinforcing his body with chakra Hiruzen knew he wasn't long for this world if something didn't change and quickly.

The Second was easier to fight than the First. As his former student he knew his battle forms and attack patterns as well as his own. But together the Senju brothers were simply unstoppable and his only plan was a delaying action. The Second would engage while the First would attack him with a jutsu or ranged weapons giving the Second openings to take advantage of before swapping off and doing it again from a different direction.

That they couldn't die and regenerated after his attacks was just icing on the cake that seemed to have his own funeral spelled out on it.

But he was not done yet and he refused to go down without a fight. Narrowing his eyes he again dodged a number of mokuton spikes as he back flipped striking the Second in the chin with a kick before throwing a number of shuriken at the First who easily dodged.

"Saru, you'll have to do better than that if you hope to defeat us," the Second said.

"Your student has done well to hold us off this long at his age brother," the First spoke.

Receiving a nod and a proud glance at the Third Hokage they made to resume their attack only to blink as their opponent suddenly vanished in a flash of yellow light.

Hiruzen would later describe that moment as what had to be the most surreal and out of body experience he had ever felt. One moment he was contemplating on summoning the Shinigami and the next he saw a flash, felt a pair of hand latch onto him, and he became nothing. He was simply nothing, no feeling of his old body, no aches, no pains, just nothing. And then he felt everything again and found he knew he was no longer trapped inside the barrier.

Blinking stupidly and shaking his head he would later consider the experience as closest to death he had felt before. He heard the cry of rage from Orochimaru as he grinned up at the white hair of his last and most loyal student.

"Get the Hokage to a secure location! I'll take my godson, you carry the Hokage, make sure to have medical personnel available on arrival!" Jiraiya ordered as he took the bundle that had collapsed next to Hiruzen in his arms. The old Kage only just now realizing what had happened.

Naruto had saved him. He leaned against the ANBU who helped him leap away from the building as more troops swarmed the platform waiting for Orochimaru to lower his barrier and launch a counter-attack against the traitor.

"He got me out didn't he," he asked quietly as the last of the newly installed cobwebs finally clearing out.

Jiraiya nodded with a small, proud smile, "Yep, the kid managed to grab you and teleport you out to us. Now let's get you somewhere safe sensei and throw the snake and his friends out of our village!"

Hiruzen grinned and took off with his student and ANBU escort, they had a village to defend.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not derive profit only joy from this work of fan fiction.**

The first thing Naruto's senses recognized was how quiet it was. He could hear loud noises in the distance but he couldn't remember why. His entire body felt like it was ready to fall apart, had he been crushed in a trash compactor at some point? Slowly his short term memory engaged. He was fighting in the tournament, then met his godfather, and then…

Naruto's body moved on its own, pain rushing through him as he moved to a sitting position on some kind of cot as one word went through his mind.

_INVASION!_

He looked around, his vision clearing with a few blinks, and took stock of his surroundings. He was in some kind of command building, there were ANBU jumping in and out, the age Hokage was to the side but he did not see Jiraiya-kun which raised alarms in Naruto's head.

Moving despite the protests of his body Naruto forced himself off the cot and made his way into the room where the Hokage was discussing the counter-attack with his ANBU commander.

"We've secured the East and South sections and Jiraiya-kun has moved to the North to deal with those snakes so I want to focus our forces on retaking the Western gate quickly before they have a chance to reinforce it," Hiruzen told the ANBU before him.

Seeing the old man was safe and apparently unharmed and hearing his newly found godfather was safe quieted enough of Naruto's initial panic to let him look around. He was in some kind of above ground bunker. The walls were a dark grey, solid stone with what looked like reinforced iron running throughout them and seals etched in every few feet. The tables and chairs were also made of a dark metal that cast no light. And the light of the room came from several dozen phosphorescent lamps lining the walls and ceiling. Shinobi of every rank moved quickly and with purpose inside the room on their tasks.

The Hokage, in his black battle armor, was standing over a large stone table that held a model of the entire village in it with small models depicting various shinobi units and their locations. Naruto watched in wonder as he analyzed and made slight changes to control the tempo of the battle. Next to the Hokage stood an ANBU wearing a fox mask denoting him the ANBU commander.

While the village might fear and hate the Kyubi no Yoko, they had to admit it was the most powerful creature anyone had ever encountered and because of that it had become tradition among the ANBU that their commander always wore the visage of a fox with nine red marks on the edges of the white mask.

"Hai, Hokage-sama, I also recommend we bring in ANBU units 4, 8, and 14 from the Eastern section and move them to the section border here, here, and here," he said with a motion over a map of the village.

Hiruzen nodded and his trusted ANBU moved to carry out the order.

"I see you're awake much sooner than we anticipated, how are you feeling Naruto-kun?" the aged Kage asked.

"Uh, I'm ok. Where's Jiraiya and what can I do?" Naruto asked.

Hiruzen smiled grimly as his eyes never left the map of the village before him. He could feel the child's low chakra reserves and knew his body had been stressed beyond its ability. Yet a fierce pride came through the old man as his surrogate grandson, even running on fumes, wanted to help.

Like many bloodlines the body had to be honed to utilize it properly. It never worked that simply activating a bloodline would come without some cost. Even the Sharingan of the Uchiha was worthless when first activated. The Uchiha needed time to adapt to the changes and be capable of processing the information coming from their awakened eyes. That was why the interceptor fist style was so important to them. It allowed newly awakened Sharingans to function without the downside of having the retrain their bodies.

Hiruzen had a med-nin go over Naruto's body when they made to the forward command center. What she found was very interesting. The movement through whatever teleportation that Naruto used caused his body to undergo intense pressure. With time and training it was likely that the side-affect would deteriorate until it vanished completely but on his young and unprepared body it had caused extreme exhaustion and wear similar to the opening of the first three of the eight inner gates.

It also made one other thing clear, his sensei had not been seeing to Naruto's training very well. His body was malnourished and had a distinct lack of muscular development for a shinobi his age. This was a conversation Hiruzen would be having with Kakashi very soon.

Hiruzen pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind as he refocused on the map before him.

**Orochimaru**

The sound four had never heard their leader curse so much or so violently. They had finally shaken off the last of the ANBU but not without a cost. Tayuya was captured, and Jirobo and Kidomaru were dead. All that remained were an injured Sakon and Ukon. Even Orochimaru had not escaped unscathed, as the numerous cuts, bruises, and various minor injuries paid mute testimony too.

The three were standing outside the village walls watching the on-going battle turned route. It was obvious that Konoha was repulsing the attack and, if their escape was anything to go by, doing so with far less casualties than expected. Apparently the loss of the one tail coupled with the survival and quick retrieval of the Hokage had solidified Konoha's command structure and added confidence to their ranks.

"Should we give the signal to withdraw Orochimaru-sama?" Sakon asked quietly.

Orochimaru leveled a glare at him, "No, these pawns were worthless anyway, let them fight to the death and do as much damage to Konoha as possible. We can always find more pawns and missing-nin."

Sakon and Ukon nodded quickly in agreement before Ukon merged back with his brother.

"Come, we're done here. Konoha may survive but Sasuke-kun will still be mine," Orochimaru stated as he began leaping from tree to tree in the direction of the land of rice.

**Naruto**

Hiruzen had ordered Naruto to remain near him for the duration of the invasion and counter-attack. Naruto wasn't thrilled about sitting out the invasion but his body reminded him at every turn just why he was sitting out. Hiruzen had informed the blonde of both his bodies condition and that his bloodline made him a high priority target for capture. He instead instructed the blonde to watch how a battle was organized and led as a real life learning experience. Thus, Naruto was currently observing the Hokage in a command combat situation for the first time.

Naruto had to admit he was impressed, very impressed. He had not realized how much work it took and the little details the Hokage needed to pay attention to when commanding a battle. He put an emphasis not only on winning the battle but doing it with few casualties and protecting vital assets to allow Konoha to recover quickly. He played the ebb and flow, the tempo of the battle itself, like a musician.

It was obvious to the blonde why the enemy had attempted to take out the Hokage so quickly, without him there would be no head to command Konoha's forces. And with nearly 50 years of battle experience, including 2 Shinobi World Wars, the Hokage of Konoha was one of the most experienced battlefield commanders alive.

Naruto watched as the aged kage took complete control of the situation directing both regular shinobi forces and ANBU to critical areas such as the hospital, water treatment facility, and Hokage tower while watching and controlling the ebb and flow of the battle. Many times Naruto couldn't understand the reasoning when orders were first issued but it all came together in one massive orchestrated plan. More than anything Naruto saw how important the Hokage was to the village.

ANBU, Jonin, Chunin, and Genin gained new resolve when they heard their Hokage issue orders; as if his mere presence put them at ease and gave them strength and confidence. The Hokage was the village's spirit and inspiration, he was their living symbol of "The Will of Fire". And Naruto, who had been told these things all his life, came to truly understand them in that moment.

After several hours of watching the Hokage Naruto was surprised to see the old man gesture for him to come to the table.

"Naruto-kun, I think you've watched enough from over there. The battle is nearing its completion, only a few pockets of resistance remain and the rest has already fled or surrendered. I want you to see something very important about being a Hokage," the old man told him. His voice was quiet and as Naruto walked over he couldn't help but notice how tired the old man looked.

He pointed to several sections on the map and began explaining, "These red flags indicate enemy shinobi inside the village. The larger the flag the more shinobi starting from squads of 4 moving up to battalions of 1,500, each flag denotes positions indicated by security seals throughout the village and reports coming in from friendly forces. As you can see, green flags are friendly units, grey are captured, and black are dead."

Naruto saw mostly green and grey with small occasional flags of red surrounded by green but also many black flags of various sizes. He had no idea how many there were or what their numbers might be but there were a lot of black flags.

"We lost nearly 1,500 shinobi today Naruto-kun," Hiruzen told him quietly, "it could have been much worse if Orochimaru had succeeded and killed me. While we have fail-safes in place should the Hokage die, with this kind of well-planned assault, the damage done before they kicked in would have been probably triple what we received. Nearly 7,000 enemy shinobi are dead, another 4,000 captured."

Naruto's eyes widened at the huge discrepancy, "But Jiji, how is possible we took so fewer casualties? I mean, I'm glad but shouldn't we have been hit harder?"

"Normally, yes, but two things helped us. One was that Orochimaru didn't actually train his troops. They were mostly missing-nins, the majority of whom were not even above genin or Chunin, and had no field command experience. They just attacked and went off on their own. Once we organized we simply lured most of them to traps around to village and picked them off," he informed his surrogate grandson.

Naruto nodded as he looked over the map, "And Suna was obviously was counting on their hidden weapon. Suna only sent around 4,000 shinobi, about a third of their total force, to attack us while Orochimaru's people made up the rest. We were lucky, when Garaa didn't appear Suna stalled and waited, their hesitation gave us the time to organize and counter. If they had acted sooner that alone would have doubled our losses."

Naruto took several breaths as he tried to assimilate this knowledge while the old Kage continued, "You'll have to perform this job someday too if you want to be Hokage Naruto-kun. Remember that you can't save everyone and most of the time the Hokage needs to remain outside the battle to command. It's a hard lesson to learn my boy."

Hiruzen placed his hand on the young Uzumaki's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze of comfort. Naruto nodded quietly as he began to accept that his naivety about battle came crashing down around him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and write this only for fun and amusement.**

**Chapter 8**

The silence after a battle was always the worst. Going from the adrenaline pumping action, war cries all around you, thunderous crashing of buildings being destroyed, and the raw energy in the air as jutsu were launched to suddenly nothing always unnerved Jiraiya. It wasn't that this was unusual, it happened after every battle. Exhaustion took over no matter how hard someone trained and eventually everyone had to rest.

But the drastic change had always bothered the veteran shinobi. Even after all the years and wars he still wasn't able to shake the feeling that some other shoe was waiting to drop, as if his own mistakes would come crashing down one day. Giving himself a small but determined grin, Jiraiya took a sip from the hot tea on the table as he reach for the next report in the growing pile nearby.

Jiraiya arrived some time near midnight to take over for his sensei. It didn't take a genius to realize the Hokage was old and tired. While he might be a good paper-pusher during peace, war was a young man's game and it drove home how much he ignored the signs that his sensei needed him. He knew the Hokage would never ask him to take over again after he refused the first time but in the back of his mind Jiraiya knew that Hiruzen had always hoped he would step up and offer. Jiraiya nodded quietly to himself as he glanced over to his godson, sleeping in a chair, and his sensei trying to catch a few hours on a cot next to him.

Naruto remained with the Hokage the rest of the evening and throughout the night. With the sudden revelation of both his bloodline and the potential for enemy shinobi to connect the dots about his heritage the Hokage was unwilling to risk letting him leave. Add in the Kyubi sealed inside him and with his lack of training and exhaustion he was just too high a priority to risk in the chaos of the invasion. Even now, while Konoha may have repulsed the invaders with relatively light losses, security was still in question. Currently squads of were combing the streets for time delayed traps, improvised explosive devices, bugs, and all manner of espionage the enemy might have set up during the invasion.

Jiraiya looked over another report from the western district of the village, apparently the clans had repulsed the attacks early and none of the compounds were breached. Although there was still some question as to the Uchiha district since no one was currently living there. He made a note to have an ANBU team thoroughly check the district. Sighing to himself, he stared at the steaming mug of tea near his hand on the desk, it was his sole companion at this late hour as he took out the next report before glancing over it and making several marks and notes for Hiruzen to review later. For the moment everything was quiet though and Jiraiya allowed his mind to wander.

Jiraiya sighed again as he took another sip of his tea. His mind rerunning the battle as he pieced together everything from the mission reports, he could see the enemy movements in his mind, decisions being made as both allies and enemies fought. It was always a little unsettling how he could guess why one unit went one direction or why one group of shinobi stood and fought when they should have retreated. Tactics had always been a game he enjoyed, sometimes too much. Everyone always thought Orochimaru was the genius of the three but he was the best front line fighter and scientist, it had been Jiraiya to come up with strategy.

He turned his attention to the roster of dead from his home and, while thankful it was so few, couldn't help but internally cringe at what may have happened had Naruto not been able to retrieve the Hokage. It was only Hiruzen's battle experience that saved many lives during the invasion. Jiraiya felt confident that he could have directed the battle just as well as his sensei but if Naruto's bloodline hadn't appeared he would likely have been off fighting in the midst of everything rather than checking in at the command center. It was a mistake and one he realized could have cost thousands their lives if things had turned out different.

With another glance at his godson and sensei sleeping nearby he took another sip of tea and came to a decision.

"I've been allowed to play the fool far longer than most I suppose," he said quietly to himself as he sipped the cup of tea.

And as the night dragged on the white haired hermit made a new promise to himself and those who were precious to him. He would stay this time and give his life to protect those he loved.

**Several Days Later**

Sasuke growled to himself as he heard the villages talk non-stop about Naruto, the dead last that had stolen _his_ place in the tournament. They should be talking about _him_ not that blonde haired idiot! _His_ Sharingan was the most powerful bloodline! _He_ was the last Uchiha!

He glanced at his companions as they walked toward the Hokage tower to do whatever D-rank rebuilding mission they'd receive that morning. Another waste of time he should have been using to become stronger. Sasuke's glare intensified as he glanced at his companions.

The tall silver haired man and pink haired girl were walking quietly and yawning respectively. As team seven entered the operation room to retrieve their mission for the day they were met with the same sight they had been treated to every day since the invasion. Sasuke's blood boiled further at the sight of the blonde who had stolen his spotlight standing near the Hokage. Naruto, not having noticed his old team enter the room, nodded to whatever he was told and created a clone that immediately left running out a side door.

Naruto had remained near Jiraiya after the battle. No one could be sure that spies had not infiltrated the village and hidden themselves among the populace. Since Sasuke spent his time with Kakashi he was considered safe but the Hokage had not wanted to place two high profile targets in the care of a single shinobi, no matter how powerful, so instead chose to grant Jiraiya's request for apprenticeship. It made sense as the Naruto would be taking up residence with his godfather once Jiraiya got around to finally cleaning up his family home. For the moment though they were both staying at Naruto's small apartment.

The knowledge that Naruto was Jiriaya's apprentice had spread like wild-fire in Konoha's rumor mill. The village couldn't help but talk about it after the display at the tournament and his rescue of the Hokage. The villagers, busy with repairs, still were not sure how to take the revelations they had been subjected too.

The shinobi had simply nodded and many withdrawn in shame while focusing on missions. They had either turned an apathetic eye or ignored the boy completely while allowing the villagers to do as they wished. They had ignored the son of their leader in favor of not getting involved. Omission and inaction, in their eyes, was as bad as overt action itself. Their sense of honor was greatly damaged by this. The man had given his life for them, led them during the third shinobi war, and saved many a veteran shinobi life. And they had repaid him with apathy for his son.

The civilians were split, one side wanted to ignore what was before their noses while the other wanted to rush and apologize. While never overtly attempting to harm Naruto, other than the occasional drunk who would try and break-in his apartment, they had overcharged him, treated him like a social pariah, ignored his existence, and all around shunned him. The side seeking to remain in ignorance grew smaller with each day as word of what Naruto had done during the invasion and tournament spread. The fact that Jiraiya had taken him as his apprentice and publicly claimed him as his godson only further cemented the obvious in their minds. The civilians moved about slightly subdued and always talking about him as they rebuilt.

And there in lay the crux of Sasuke's anger. His teammate had stolen, in his mind, his rightful place. Ever since his clan had been wiped out he had been the star of the village. Everyone watching and talking about him, and while he had never cared much about it now that it was gone he found himself becoming quickly jealous of the one who had taken his place. He should have been the one offered apprenticeship to a Sannin, he should be the talk of the village, he was the last Uchiha! Sasuke leveled a glare at his blonde former teammate as they received a mission from the Hokage.

"Kakashi-kun, take your team to clear rubble in sector 11 near the warehouse district. Be careful, we think there may be a few unexploded traps in the area," Hiruzen told him.

With a nod Kakashi took the mission scroll and was turning around when a piercing voice came from his pink haired student rang out, "Isn't Naruto coming?! He's been gone for days and does nothing but lounge in here! He should be working like the rest of us!"

Sakura finished his statement/question with her hands on his hips and a glare at the blonde near the Hokage. Naruto wilted visibly at the obvious anger from Sasuke and Sakura, he lowered his head slightly at the glares of his two former teammates, feeling the hate they seemed to exude.

"I…" Naruto started before the Hokage raised a hand to silence him. Hiruzen knew Naruto felt bad for not being out with his former teammates, despite their attitudes toward him and he would not let this girl make him feel worse.

Hiruzen gave the genin a level gaze causing both to glance down at the floor before deciding to answer, "Naruto is here aiding me personally. His ability to make hundreds of shadow clones as runners to relay information has allowed nearly 200 shinobi to focus on rebuilding and clearing rubble that normally would be relaying those messages. He is by no means 'lounging' and you have no place to question my decisions genin, are we clear?"

Hiruzen's question was obviously rhetorical and was spoken with a slight chill to his tone. While he might have a soft spot for the next generation it was because of the naivety they had before entering the real world. But after that, once they were bloodied, normally they understood the need for the chain of command. No genin that had seen true combat should have questioned the Hokage like that. Sakura, obviously, hadn't gotten that memo and from the slight wince from Kakashi he understood that that would need to be rectified.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as dark thoughts went through his head and his jealousy spiked again. Naruto, the dead last who had no special skills, was more useful to the Hokage than the last Uchiha. He would have to rectify that and ensure the blonde was returned to his rightful place. Sasuke began to grin inside as he made a note to have dinner with a few prominent civilians and elders over the next few days.


	9. Chapter 9

**Bloodline Flash**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or make money from this fanfic.**

**Chapter 9**

Naruto sighed as he hit the floor. Even with his absurd levels of stamina and chakra the Hokage had been a slave driver. It had been almost two weeks since the day Sakura had spoken to the Hokage about his 'lounging' about the mission room and Naruto had redoubled his efforts to prove himself useful. He had assured his grandfather figure that he would be alright and began producing even more clones to help with repairs throughout the village as well as the normal messenger duties.

While he knew his chakra would replenish itself by morning but it always left him beat afterwards. He turned at the noise coming from the small kitchen nearby. Jiraiya walked out and grinned at him before offering him a bowl of ramen.

"Enjoy it, I added plenty of veggies and meats to help replenish your chakra," the white haired sennin told him.

"I didn't know you knew how to make ramen ero-kyoufu," Naruto said he began to devour the food before him.

Jiraiya grinned, "Who do you think introduced your dad to Ramen? The fact that your mom was obsessed with the stuff only helped when he made her my special family recipe," he told him.

Naruto smiled while continuing to slurp down the noodles. He loved this time of evening with Jiraiya. Every day they went to the mission room together where Jiraiya would help Hiruzen with planning and the day-to-day rebuilding efforts, Naruto would provide support, and Hiruzen would oversee everything. Afterwards they would come home, eat, and he would tell him about his parents.

The two would often talk well into the night before crashing on either the couch or the bed depending on how tired they were. Neither knew what the next day would bring nor the headache it would cause.

The next morning they moved toward the Hokage tower and took stock of the village around them. Much of the village had been repaired already and was back in working order. Normally it would have taken longer but with Naruto's clones providing extra manual labor and freeing up several hundred shinobi usually used as messengers repairs had sped along at a rapid pace.

As the duo entered the tower an ANBU appeared before them handing Jiraiya a message. The older man frowned as he read it, "Is this happening now?"

The ANBU nodded, "Ok, we'll be there in a moment."

The ANBU vanished as Naruto looked from one to the other before his curiosity finally got the better of him.

"What's that ero-kyoufu?"

"This, my boy, is a message!" Jiraiya proclaimed loudly as he brandished the note to his apprentice and godson before continuing forward into the building.

Naruto nearly fell down as he hurriedly followed the older man, "That's not what I meant!"

Jiraiya chuckled, "It's a summons for us to meet sensei at the council chambers. Apparently some emergency council has been summoned by the elders. They normally don't bother but we knew that would likely happen soon, I'm surprised it hasn't happened before now actually."

Naruto nodded, "Uh, and why would they want me there?"

Jiraiya looked down at him as they walked toward the room and raised an eyebrow, "Because the meeting is most likely about you and your now revealed bloodline. Many on the shinobi and civilian council will likely want to try and get on your good side as the heir to both the Uzumaki and Namikaze clans. Not to mention your Kekkei Genkai appearing. No one, not even my teammate Tsunade, knows for sure how they come about and yours is particularly powerful. Believe me, this was going to happen no matter what but we've prepared for it. Just trust me and stay quiet k?"

Naruto nodded, "Alright ero-kyoufu! I trust you and ji-ji to handle it."

Jiraiya winked at him and continued to ignore the 'ero-kyoufu' title. While it annoyed him a little he felt it was more than he deserved for the horrible years he had spent away from his godson. The fact he was willing to give him the title at all meant the world to the white haired sennin.

The duo walked in silence as they arrived at the doors to the council chamber. The chamber was a long rectangular room with three tables inside. One table at the end of the room rested on raised landing where the Hokage and advisors sat, the other two spread from the Hokage on the floor toward the doorway lengthwise leaving room between them. One on side the Shinobi council sat consisting of the clanheads of the great clans of Konoha and on the other the civilian council that consisted of the wealthiest and most influential civilians of Konoha.

Between the two shinobi and civilians and placed before the Hokage was another smaller table and chair that petitioners could sit at. However Jiraiya ignored that as he and Naruto walked forward, the older man yawning, "Isn't it too early for politics?" he asked.

Hiruzen allowed a slight smile at his students obvious lack of concern, "I am in complete agreement Jiraiya-kun, now will you reveal whatever mystery reason you have for requesting this meeting Danzo?"

To Hiruzen's side a man wrapped in bandages with a small tuff of black hair and holding a cane stepped forward with a frown, "I think it would be obvious Hiruzen. We had a potentially new and powerful Kekkei Genkai appear. I think we all want to know where it came from and why were not informed that the Yondaime had an heir."

Hiruzen shrugged knowing the cat was out of the bag, "That should be obvious, the number of enemies Minato accumulated in his life would transfer to his son. The assassins he would deal with would have been more than the village was capable of defending against. Anonymity was his best defense."

"So he really is Minato's pup?" Tsume, the Inuzuka clanhead asked.

"Yes, he was my father," Naruto said proudly.

Several civilians frowned, "Are we sure of this? The boy could be making it up and taking advantage of the situation to gain more fame than should be granted," one of the civilians stated.

Jiraiya chuckled at that, "Other than being a mini-clone of Minato with what is obviously Uzumaki bone structure? Yeah, Tsunade did the blood tests herself and confirmed it a few days after he was born. He's Kushina's and Minato's son alright."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at this, not even he had been aware that Jiraiya had sought out Tsunade to perform the bloodwork for Naruto. He only knew that Jiraiya took had someone he trusted perform the tests.

"And what of his new ability, is it a Kekkei Genkai? And is it transferable to any children he has?" Inoichi of the Yamanaka clan asked.

"Yes, that was confirmed at the tournament, although it was a previously unknown one. We won't know if his children will receive it until he has them though, you know that," Jiraiya told him while Naruto blushed and rubbed his neck as the mention of him having kids.

"Then we must enact the Clan Restoration Act immediately! Imagine an army of teleporting shinobi! We would never be challenged by another village ever again!" Another civilian cried out before being silenced by the glares of the shinobi council.

"I'm afraid that is impossible. The bylaws of the Namikaze and the alliance with the Uzumaki clan prohibit such an action by the council," Hiruzen explained, "for us to do so would break the ties of both clans with the village."

Danzo frowned at this and nodded, he knew that many clans had such bylaws to stop the village from becoming too involved in their affairs, thus why Sasuke was allowed to roam free without being tied down by any marriage contracts to force his rebuilding of the Uchiha clan.

"If that is everything we have work to do…" Jiraiya began.

"Actually Uchiha-sama spoke with me recently over dinner. He expressed his concern that his clan was not being given the proper respect it deserved. Something I agree with. I'd like to know why you did not take Uchiha-sama as your apprentice Jiraiya-sama?" another civilian councilor asked while other nodded along.

"Who I take as my apprentice is none of your concern. Am I clear?" Jiraiya said, his voice cold as ice.

Danzo smirked slightly under his bandages, _So the Uchiha isn't happy that the Uzumaki-Namikaze is receiving higher level training hmmmm_

"I agree, Jiraiya-san has the right to apprentice any who he wishes, the council has no reason or right to understand why," Danzo said as Hiruzen raised an eyebrow wondering what his old rival was up too.

Danzo smirked inwardly at this new information, _I can use this to attract the boy to me, training with my Ne forces would provide the perfect way to gain from him what may be denied through the Uzumaki-Namikaze._

"That is correct, now I believe we have exhausted the purpose of this 'emergency' session," Hiruzen said, his contempt for the waste of time he felt this meeting has been obviously in his voice.

"There is one more thing Hokage-sama," Koharu said quietly, "It has to do with young Naruto and his status as heir to both the Uzumaki and Namikaze clans. As heir to both he will be unable to merge the clans, the bylaws of the great clans makes that very clear. He will need to choose one or the other to represent in the village."

Hiruzen smiled, "Ahhhh, and should he do so the remaining clan will then have its assets absorbed by the village. But you forget one thing Koharu, the Uzumaki were never a clan of our village. Therefore those rules do not apply. Naruto-kun merely need take a second wife under the Uzumaki name to restore the clan. And even that decision need not be made until he turns 16 after all. It is much too early for us to bring up such a thing."

Koharu frowned and nodded to the Hokage while Naruto's eyes grew to the size of saucers as Jiraiya grinned, already knowing where he would find inspiration for his next book from.

Danzo nodded, already expecting the result, " Before we dismiss I would like to renew my petition to have the boy turned over to me for personal training…"

"That is already taken care of. As Naruto is officially my apprentice," Jiraiya responded.

"I understand but you are often gone from the village for long periods of time, it would be best if he had someone here to continue his training, perhaps when you are unable too?" Danzo said.

"I had intended to tell you after my replacement arrives but I have chosen to retire to the village to take care of my godson and his training more directly," Jiraiya told him.

Danzo frowned at this, "But your spy network will suffer greatly from your lack of attention Jiraiya-san and we do not know any replacement who would be capable of running your network at your level of competency. Should we lose your spy network it could prove disastrous to Konoha."

Jiraiya shrugged, "I have already contacted my chosen successor and he will be here any day now to receive instructions. I have worked with him the past few years with the intention of turning my network over to him."

Again Danzo frowned, having never known that Jiraiya had a successor to his spy network, "And who would this be?"

"Why, Itachi Uchiha of course," Jiraiya told him with a grin.


End file.
